Dealertrack Technologies reports that an agreement is in place for the technology company to acquire Dealer.com. Dealertrack will retain the Dealer.com name and is expected to appoint CEO Rick Gibbs as executive vice president and group president of its digital marketing solution team.

Following a critical piece in the New York Times on the arbitration clause found in its warranty statement, Hyundai drops the policy. The change came a week before the CFPB released its first report on the effect of arbitration agreements on consumers.

Top search engines released their top search terms for the year, with Google’s annual Zeitgeist being released today. And according to results, auto-related searches were among the most popular search terms in 2014.

Despite opposition from state dealers, the Iowa Department of Transportation has proposed a hike in registration fees from 5 to 6 percent. The state dealer association claims the increase will hurt sales.

A consumer advocacy group has filed a new ballot initiative with the California attorney general’s office. Part of the initiative aims to eliminate dealer markups, something California New Car Dealer Association President Brian Maas says would harm consumers.

Longtime California dealer Joe Boccalero passed away on Nov. 27 at the age of 92. He served as the former president of Domenich Basso Inc. and operated a Chrysler Jeep dealership in Los Angeles for 40 years.

Dataium reports that shoppers spend nearly twice as long on a dealer’s website, are five times more likely to submit a lead, and are twice as likely to look at a vehicle when the dealer provides a Carfax Vehicle History Report.

Lenders that provide excellence in the servicing and onboarding experiences from the beginning of the loan or lease process set the stage for customer satisfaction throughout the financing duration, according to the J.D. Power 2013 U.S. Consumer Financing Satisfaction Study.